Kevin Butler settles Sony lawsuit

The actor who played Sony mascot Kevin Butler has settled a legal case with his former employer.

Jerry Lambert, who has played Kevin Butler in more than 30 PlayStation adverts, admitted that his appearance in a separate Bridgestone tyre advert - where he was enjoying a Wii game - could have created confusion about what games the Butler character was endorsing. As a result of the out-of-court settlement, Lambert has agreed to not appear in any adverts that feature video games for a period of two years.
According to settlement details cited by Media Post, Lambert also agreed to give Sony full notice if he appears in any video game adverts once the block is lifted. This will provide Sony time to "assess whether or not Lambert's intended performance violates [Sony's] rights in the Kevin Butler character".
Kevin Butler remains a Sony trademark.
In October it emerged that PlayStation began legal action against Jerry Lambert for appearing in an advert that shows him playing on Nintendo's Wii console.
In September, Lambert was used in a Bridgestone tyres commercial video and was depicted enjoying a game on the Wii.
Lambert, whose likeness is has been so closely associated with his Kevin Butler character, was later scrubbed out of the advertisement using video editing tools.
On September 11, Sony Computer Entertainment America filed against both Bridgestone and Lambert's company Wildcat Creek.
The American arm of PlayStation said that the lawsuit claims are "based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship".
The company went on to allege: "We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he's become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years.

"Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony's intellectual property, creates confusion in the market and causes damage to Sony."
The Bridgestone advert aired just three days after the expiration of Lambert's contract with Sony. But the contract contained an "exclusivity clause" that prevented Lambert from providing his services or his likeness to competing gaming system manufacturers like Nintendo.

Is it just me, or is Sony getting a tad bit carried away about all the lawsuits they file over the past few years. Seems like they would have more important things to worry about. Like making sure the ps4 doesn't suck, or making sure they don't get hacked again. I don't know if I have become Jaded or not, but reading stuff like this just kind of makes me not look forward to the ps4 as much. I can only imagine all the issues that will be happening with that in the future. As a whole, it just seems to lower the fun of it. If they were more focused on the quality of the products and less about other stuff then it could be like the ps2 days. It just seemed alot more fun with way less hassle then. Just my opinion.

Is it just me, or is Sony getting a tad bit carried away about all the lawsuits they file over the past few years. Seems like they would have more important things to worry about. Like making sure the ps4 doesn't suck, or making sure they don't get hacked again. I don't know if I have become Jaded or not, but reading stuff like this just kind of makes me not look forward to the ps4 as much. I can only imagine all the issues that will be happening with that in the future. As a whole, it just seems to lower the fun of it. If they were more focused on the quality of the products and less about other stuff then it could be like the ps2 days. It just seemed alot more fun with way less hassle then. Just my opinion.

Yeah, it's just you =)
That's how it is in corporate world, they go to extreme lengths to protect things, but anyway I don't think Sony's demands are out of line Sony seems pretty lenient when it comes to settlements.

Yeah, it's just you =)
That's how it is in corporate world, they go to extreme lengths to protect things, but anyway I don't think Sony's demands are out of line Sony seems pretty lenient when it comes to settlements.

I get that, but it seems they go a bit overboard at times. If you are really the age posted on your profile, you HAVE to remember when there was alot less B.S. when it came to just playing games. There wasn't all this main stream stuff. It was just..well, fun. In it's truest form. Even when the ps3 first came out, it was still a blast. But over the years it's kind of been battle of new games/vs pre owned game purchases. Hacks, and Lawsuits. Sony pulled the Kevin Bulter campaign anyway. Who cares if the guy is in a commercial for a different company? I don't .simply going after the guy for doing a job he was hired to do because of a contract is a little petty in my opinion Especially when it doesn't cost Sony any money for him to do another commercial for a different company. For crying out loud it's a commercial for Bridgestone. Since when did Bridgestone get into the game console industry? HAHA There's a concept.

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